We Are Not Against the Improvement of Armenian-Azerbaijani Relations, but Not Recognizing Artsakh as Part of Azerbaijan: Babayan

We have been in Yerevan for 3-4 days now, with a delegation led by the President of Artsakh holding various meetings, including with representatives of the Armenian government. This was noted by Artsakh’s Foreign Minister Davit Babayan during a conversation with journalists at the National Assembly today, October 14.

"This is already the second such meeting involving the delegation. Yesterday we met with the Secretary of the Security Council, and today with the President of the National Assembly, Alen Simonyan. A meeting with the President of Armenia is scheduled for today, and tomorrow we will meet with the Foreign Minister and the Prime Minister. In other words, we are meeting with everyone who is involved in the negotiations and has a direct influence on the fate of Artsakh," he said.

According to Babayan, they have come to Yerevan for very honest discussions. "As you know, we are in a very unique situation, facing existential challenges. It is very important that we receive answers to several questions now, present our viewpoint, and also learn about different processes, be it the negotiation process, parliamentary diplomacy, or questions related to various bilateral relations. It is vital that we always maintain stable connections, including at the level of institutions," he added.

Babayan emphasized that they have discussed very complex issues in an honest manner, and stressed the importance of having a clear position regarding Artsakh. Addressing the perspective that when Armenia recognizes Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, it also pertains to Artsakh, Babayan stated, "Clarifications have been made and there will still be more, because this is not the last meeting. There will still be meetings with the Foreign Minister, the Prime Minister, and the President. We are not against Armenia and Azerbaijan improving their relations; however, we must understand that recognizing Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan is unacceptable for Artsakh and the entire Armenian people. In both meetings, it was stated that no one is planning to recognize Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan. Now we must pursue a very flexible policy. We have expressed our opinion: any attempt to incorporate Artsakh into Azerbaijan will lead to two scenarios—either war, bloodshed, genocide, or the depopulation of Artsakh. This is a message to the entire world. We are now appealing to democratic countries. There are so-called bastions of democracy in Prague, and we are saying that if the democratic community is involved in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh-Azerbaijani conflict, our position is very clear: if that democratic world sees us as part of Azerbaijan, this will be a scar imprinted on them, because the genocide of Artsakh will also be a result of that policy. We are saying this openly," Babayan stated.

According to Babayan, Armenia and Azerbaijan can recognize each other's territorial integrity, but it must be clearly stated that this does not extend to Artsakh. "This will be clearly mentioned, or it may be that we will discuss that issue later. It is important for us that this philosophy is clearly articulated. At this moment, there is no document stating that Armenia is ceding or that Artsakh is part of Azerbaijan. Everything is currently in the discussion phase. We have seen that there is understanding on the part of the Armenian authorities; I do not believe Armenia can abandon Artsakh. This would be the final point in the history of Armenians."